Saturday, September 15, 2007

EPL Roundup Sept. 15: Arsenal Goes Top

Saturday's eight English Premier League matches saw Arsene Wenger's young gunners go clear on top of the table with 13 points. Last years champions Manchester United beat Everton in the 83rd minute to go 3rd in the Premiership, tied on points with Liverpool and Chelsea in 2nd and 4th respectively.

Liverpool and Chelsea were both held to 0-0 draws, Liverpool getting their point courtesy of a Nwankwo Kanu penalty miss. Chelsea were unable to beat Blackburn, after Salomon Kalou's winner was waved off by the linesman.

Game Results:
Everton 0-1 Manchester United
Manchester United secured three vital points through a Nemanja Vidic header in the 83rd minute. Although they had a tough time unraveling a tough Everton defense, they have risen to third in the league on 11 points from 6 games. Everton have just one less point, but find themselves in 6th, behind the big four and West Ham, who also have 10 points.

Portsmouth 0-0 Liverpool
Portsmouth held Liverpool to a 0-0 draw at Fratton Park this morning, and nearly took the full three points in the 32nd minute, but Nwankwo Kanu failed to capitalize on a penalty kick. With one point each, Liverpool now find themselves in 2nd place behind Arsenal (but tied on points with Manchester United and Chelsea albeit with a game in hand), while Portsmouth settle into 15th place after getting only 6 points from the same number of games.

Tottenham Hotspur 1-3 Arsenal
Martin Jol's Spurs wasted a 1-0 halftime lead to lose 3-1 to an inspirational Arsenal side. A double from Emanuel Adebayor and a goal from Cesc Fabregas was enough to propel Arsenal into 1st place, with 13 points from 5 games. Tottenham's Gareth Bale will be disappointed to see his team sink into 17th place after his free-kick put the Spurs ahead in the 14th minute. With only 4 points from 6 games this season, Martin Jol's stay at Tottenham looks like it won't last much longer. Full Match Review

Birmingham 1-0 Bolton
Sammy Lee's Bolton team fell into 19th place after being defeated by newly promoted Birmingham. With only 3 points from 6 games, Bolton look to be missing Big Sam Allardyce. Olivier Kapo scored the only goal in a win that sent Birmingham up to a respectable 12th place.

Sunderland 2-1 Reading
Another newly promoted team won today, as Sunderland defeated Reading 2-1 at the Stadium of Light. Strikes from Kenwyne Jones and Ross Wallace put Sunderland up 2-0, and an 85th minute goal from Dave Kitson was not enough to pull back a point for Reading. The win moves Sunderland up to 14th in the Premiership, while Reading (who finished 8th last year) are in 18th with only 4 points.

West Ham 3-0 Middlesbrough
Goals from Lee Bowyer and Dean Ashton as well as an own goal from Luke Young condemned Boro to a 3-0 loss at Upton Park. West Ham fans will soon be forgetting the name of Carlos Tevez if they manage to keep up the impressive record which sees them in a UEFA Cup spot in 5th. Middlesbrough fans won't be nearly as happy as their team slips down into 13th.

Wigan 1-0 Fulham
An 11th minute goal from American Clint Dempsey wasn't enough to win all 3 points at the JJB as Wigan pulled back an equalizer through Jason Koumas in the 80th minute. Fulham find themselves in a familiar position near the bottom of the table in 16th with 5 points, while Wigan are in 10th after a reasonably good start to the season.

Chelsea 0-0 Blackburn
Chelsea were held to a goalless draw by a tough tackling Blackburn side. The heroic American goalkeeper Brad Friedel made 13 saves during to hold on to a point for Blackburn. Jose Mourinho will be disappointed to have dropped points at home, but still finds himself in a relatively safe position at 4th in the league (tied on points with Liverpool and Manchester United in 2nd and 3rd). Blackburn, who have been flying high this season, also taking 2 points off of Arsenal at the Emirates, are in a safe 7th place, after taking 9 points from 5 games.

That rounds up this Saturday's Premiership action. Be sure to check back tomorrow for updates on the Manchester City v Aston Villa game and more.

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